David Bropleh’s Burial Thursday

The children and widow of the late Major David Livingston M. Bropleh (Diego) welcomed me to their residence near Tweh Farm and was informed that his remains will be interred on Thursday, December 19.

Bropleh died on October 18 at the Abor Hospital in Volta Region, Ghana.

There will be a silent wake-keeping at the family’s compound in Tweh Farm on Wednesday December 18, said Widow Nancy Bropleh.

With me, was Jonathan Armah Baxter, who played one season (1986-87) for the St. Joseph’s Warriors before joining Mighty Barrolle and eventually NPA-Anchors at the time the late Bropleh was Warriors’ president.

“Diego was a man of enormous confidence,” Baxter said, “he always had a way to maintain confidence in his playing team anytime we lost a game.” A military man, he earned the position of ‘Major’ in the Armed Forces of Liberia in the 1980s, Nancy Bropleh said.

“My late husband was director of finance at the National Legislature during the People’s Redemption Council administration,” Nancy said.

Armah said, “For example after a loss against say Mighty Barrolle, Diego and Jerry Weagba would say, since Barrolle’s next match is against Young Eagles, Barrolle would lose that game and then Invincible Eleven would also lose their game against Fulani and then Warriors would win their next encounter against Cedar United.”

“One time after a loss,” Baxter said, “Diego dismissed the coach, who then was the late Victor Sieh Sr., Diego told all the playing team he was now a coach.”

Jerry Weagba, who later left the team to join Invincible Eleven, now pastors a church in Monrovia. Among some of the players that Armah Baxter mentioned were Varney Greene, Lucretius Togba, Mayango Jallah, the late Paul Dadzie, George Shillengton, George Johnson, Stephen Sonpon, Nathaniel Naplah, Orlando Krangar, Romeo Cooper, Abu Kamara, Ezekiel Doe, and Mohammed Kumba.

Diego, besides his job as a controller, had a used car lot in Gardnersville, and he was also the founder and executive member of the Liberia National Lotteries.

He was a family man who fathered eight children. He was also a popular figure in several West African countries, including Ghana, where he died and Sierra Leone, where he spent many years, leading the Sierra Leone Army against insurgents.

Diego’s love for soccer made him to bring the late Ghanaian coach Joe Ghartey to handle St. Joseph’s Warriors, Varney Greene said.

At the recent 6-1 loss of Lone Star to Nigeria’s Super Eagles in a World Cup tie, Diego was reportedly furious that he wished the playing team could have been forced to walk from Nigeria to Liberia.

Meanwhile, Armah Baxter informed the Daily Observer yesterday that the Liberia Football Association President Musa Bility has promised to make a cash donation of U$500 towards Diego’s burial.

With Liberian football facing challenges, and football authorities struggling against odds to rescue the game, Diego’s death is a great loss to Liberia.

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